


The heart whispers

by artinthedark



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Missing Persons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-21 16:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9557696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artinthedark/pseuds/artinthedark
Summary: It had been a day like any other. He was supposed to wait. Now Yamaguchi was gone, and he had no one to blame but himself.





	1. A Normal Day

The day had been exhausting, and Kei was ready for it to be over. He had known it was going to be a long day the moment he woke with a headache. The dull thud had only grown as the hours progressed. It was a constant pain that continually chipped away at his resistance. Other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary. It was just another random Tuesday. He and Yamaguchi had met at their usual spot, and they’d walked to school together, like always. That had been their routine over the last few years.  
  
During the trip, Tsukishima was listening to music. At his side, Yamaguchi talked about a new and upcoming video game that they should pick up and play over the weekend. Tsukishima had nodded while only paying attention to half of what Yamaguchi had said. Despite only listening half-heartedly Tsukishima had watched Yamaguchi bounce around with excitement from the corner of his eye as he agreed to hang out with him over the weekend. Internally, it made Tsukishima smile, although his face didn’t reflect his enthusiasm.  
  
It was good to see Yamaguchi happy. His friend had been battling with waves of depression since his parents split up suddenly over the summer. Yamaguchi hadn’t vocalized much of that situation with him. He’d been withdrawn about it, and Tsukishima didn’t pry. It was obvious Yamaguchi needed time to sort everything out. Tsukishima didn’t know why Yamaguchi’s parents had so suddenly gotten divorced. As far as he’d known they hadn’t been arguing, but, in hindsight, he had come to realize he hadn’t been over to Yamaguchi’s house in a while. Yamaguchi had been coming over to his house. Probably to escape whatever drama had been happening at home. He’d asked Yamaguchi about it, but Yamaguchi always found a way to change to subject without saying much. While Yamaguchi’s parents finalized their divorce, Tsukishima had seen the changes it had caused in his friend. While Yamaguchi had always been shy, he’d been coming out of his shell a lot more since he’d started playing on the Karasuno volleyball team. It would have been impossible for him to stay reclusive with the stupidity and boisterousness of his teammates. It was inevitable that they wore off on him. Despite initially coming out of his shell Yamaguchi had gone through period where he’d become quite the introvert while his home life had been tumultuous. The others on the team had noticed it too, and they’d understood when Yamaguchi had spoken only a few words on the issue. Sometimes life was hard. That’s how it was.  
  
It had been after summer break that Yamaguchi finally seemed ready to move on from the drama in his home life. Yamaguchi had told him that his dad had moved out, and his mother had started working. Yamaguchi was at home alone on a regular schedule, and it meant the two had been hanging out a lot more than they had been before. Yamaguchi’s mother got home late, and somewhere along the wayTsukishima realized that Yamaguchi didn’t like being home by himself. They would usually rotate going to each other’s homes after school. It had almost become routine for them to crash at each other’s house on a whim. That was both good and bad. As their time, together increased Tsukishima was starting to discover that he enjoyed spending time with Yamaguchi.  
  
It was frustrating to say the least.  
  
While he’d always enjoyed their time together on some level, he supposed, he was starting to feel like something different. It only got worse the more they hung out. When they were alone he’d catch himself wanting a less plutonic relationship with Yamaguchi. The more time he was spending with Yamaguchi the more apparent it was becoming, and Tsukishima didn’t like it. He wasn’t against it, but it could throw a wrench in with one of his closest friends. He was treading cautiously. There were a lot of hurdles. Would Yamaguchi be interested? What would happen if things ended with devastation? Yamaguchi’s parents had just gotten divorced. If he tried to move into the land of romance how would Yamaguchi feel? He was obviously reeling from his parents splitting up. Would he be ready for it? Even if they did give it a try, what would happen if they split up? Would he lose his friend? Tsukishima was young, but it was obvious that people didn’t usually hang out with their ex’s after ending a relationship. At the moment romance was a risk, and it wasn’t worth taking. His friendship wasn’t something he was interested in mucking up.  
  
Those thoughts on his way to school, throughout the day, and during practice had only fueled his headache. They had also propelled his attitude into another realm. Perhaps, that was why he was leaning against the gym instead of helping all the second years clean up. He should have been helping, but he’d gotten into multiple arguments with Kageyama already. The captain thought it best for them to have some space, so Tsukishima wasn’t assisting the others clean. That didn’t change the fact that he usually walked home with Yamaguchi, but Yamaguchi was trying his patience as he stood leaning against one of the closed gym doors. He was ready to make the journey home. He was beyond ready to go home. Tsukishima heard laughter rise up from inside the gym once more. He turned to peer inside and shot a scathing look at the other second years. Yamaguchi had descended into hijinks with Shoyo. Tsukishima had been impatiently waiting for Yamaguchi to finish cleaning the gym for what seemed like an eternity already. He watched as the three screwballs managed to clean for a moment before Shoyo and Yamaguchi broke out into laughter over something trivial, to be sure. Tsukishima could see that they were getting nowhere fast, and Kageyama was fed up with the tomfoolery as well. Tsukishima knew it would still be a while until they were done, so he stepped into the gym and made his announcement to his traveling companion,  
  
“I’m heading home.”  
  
“Oh! Tsukki!” He heard Yamaguchi whine as he turned to leave, and he paused for a moment. He turned to look over his shoulder at Yamaguchi only to find him with an utterly pathetic look, “It won’t be much longer.” Tsukishima rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe that. Kageyama who wasn’t too far from Yamaguchi told him to let the asshole go. Yamaguchi was quick to defend him saying that he had been goofing off instead of cleaning. A moment later Yamaguchi jogged his way over to the gym door to try and convince Tsukishima to stay, “Wait a few more minutes. We can get it done quick. Promise”  
  
Yamaguchi couldn’t hide his disappointment when Kei turned away from him and started down the stairs, “I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
  
“Ah! The video game-“, Yamaguchi called after him, but Tsukishima was already lifting his headphones up to his ears. The last thing he heard was his nickname being whined and another plea for him to wait, but that didn’t stop him from leaving. He needed some space to be alone with his thoughts. The walk home had been oddly peaceful. He’d made the journey countless times, and it went down as one of the quietest. Tsukishima had to assume that if he left Yamaguchi behind more often his life would be drastically quieter. That was appealing on some level. Calmer and much more peaceful. How marvelous would peace be? It was a trivial thought, and he knew it. Despite Yamaguchi’s shortcomings he was a good friend. In fact, he seemed to be one of very few people who could put up with what other’s saw as a lackluster attitude.  
  
Once Tsukishima made it to his home he went straight to his room. He let his back pack fall to the floor, and he didn’t bother taking out any of his homework. His head was still throbbing. His immediate mission was to find some aspirin and take it. Once that was taken care of he fell onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling counting the shadows above while he waited for the aspirin to kick in. He wasn’t even aware he’d fallen asleep until the buzzing of his cell phone woke him up. The cobwebs in his head were thick at first, but he noticed that the sun had set outside. The ringtone on his phone was just the standard one, so it wasn’t someone he frequently spoke to. Perhaps, it was a wrong number. Tsukishima didn’t care. He simply ignored it. He was content to roll over and fall back asleep. It stopped soon enough, and he thought that was the end of it until it immediately started to ring again. Usually a misdial wouldn’t call back so quickly, so it upped the level of importance. Grumbling Tsukishima reached down and picked the phone up. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, but he saw it was Ms. Yamaguchi calling. His first thought being that it must have been Yamaguchi using his mother’s phone for some reason. Perhaps, he’d dropped and broken his. Tsukishima clicked receive and greeted the caller with a rough hello. He was surprised to hear Yamaguchi’s mother on the other end of the phone. She quickly asked if Yamaguchi was with him. Tsukishima was confused at first, and he responded by answering truthfully. When Yamaguchi’s mother replied by saying Yamaguchi wasn’t at home his thoughts went back to where he’d last seen him. He told her that he’d left Yamaguchi at school with Kageyama and Shoyo. He was sure that the three had probably kept goofing off and they were just running behind. When Yamaguchi’s mother responded by saying that it was after ten-thirty a jolt of worry pierced Tsukishima. If the three had been fooling around they still should have made it home by that hour. Tsukishima pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the time. He noticed a few missed text messages, and he went about checking them.  
  
He found one from Yamaguchi. He read it back to Yamaguchi’s mother stating that it had been sent around 7, and that Yamaguchi had gone to the video game store to pick up the game for the upcoming weekend. Tsukishima’s immediate thoughts didn’t take him to a place of concern. He was sure Yamaguchi had gotten wrapped up in his own itinerary and was running late. Yamaguchi’s mother asked Tsukishima to call her if he heard anything else from her son, and she immediately hung up. Tsukishima’s first instinct was to call Yamaguchi’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail. A little strange, but it wasn’t something that made him worry… much. Tsukishima was content to roll over and go back to sleep, and he did roll over for a minute. Then he found himself sitting up in bed and cursing under his breath.  
  
He picked up his phone to call Shoyo. A few rings later and his teammate picked up. Tsukishima was quick to ask where Yamaguchi was. It seemed the cosmos were content to wreak havoc on his night when Shoyo responded with a quick, “I don’t know.”  
  
“Where was the last place you saw him, dumbass.” Tsukishima could almost hear the shrimp bristling through the phone, and Shoyo’s answer was the same one he expected, “The gym. He walked with Kageyama to the video game store.”  
  
If it had been any other time that would have taken Tsukishima by surprise. He had to wonder if Kageyama had gone to buy a sports video game of some sort, but he didn’t think too hard on it. He hung up the phone and then glared down at the electronic. He was about to call Kageyama to find out the whereabouts of Yamaguchi and then kill him. He was flipping through his contacts when he realized he didn’t have Kageyama’s number.  
  
“Shit.” He stared at his phone all over again before picking it up and calling Hinata back. He wasn’t that surprised when the other starter picked up with an annoyed voice,  
  
“What the hell? You just hung up on me!?”  
  
“… I need Kageyama’s number….”  
  
Shoyo was surprised by the request. He’d seen how well the two had been getting along earlier in the day after all. It made him hesitate in simply giving the number out, so he had to ask, “Why?”  
  
“Yamaguchi’s mother called me, and he isn’t home yet. He’s not picking up his phone. I-“ Tsukishima paused for a moment. What was he doing? He wasn’t Yamaguchi’s babysitter after all, “I have to ask him about something on our homework. My notes got wet.”  
  
The lie came out so quickly it was almost terrifying, but it seemed to do the trick. Shoyo’s response was a simple, “Whatever. I’ll text it to you.”  
  
When the phone went dead again Tsukishima found himself waiting for the message to come through. When it did Tsukishima was surprised by how quickly he’d dialed the number, and when Kageyama picked up he asked where Yamaguchi was with a hint of anger in his voice.  
  
“Tsukishima? Do you know what time it is?” Kageyama’s voice was beginning to reflect anger as well. They’d just been arguing earlier in the day, and he was calling him at some odd hour making demands?  
  
Tsukishima didn’t let Kageyama’s tone faze him, “Shoyo said you went to the video game store with Yama-“  
  
“What if I did? That’s none of your business.”  
  
Tsukishima was surprised how hot his temper burned thinking of Yamaguchi and Kageyama hanging out together, but that wasn’t the reason he’d called, “Yamaguchi’s mother just called me and said he isn’t home yet, and Shoyo said you two went to the store together. Where is he?”  
  
“How should I know? I walked with him to the store, but we split up. I was running an errand to a nearby shop. I didn’t go in with him.”  
  
Tsukishima paused, “When was that?”  
  
Kageyama’s attitude wasn’t improving as Tsukiyama got shorter with him, but the mention of Yamaguchi’s mother made him think, “That was around seven.”  
  
Tsukishima hung up without a second thought, and he quickly tried calling Yamaguchi again. He instantly got voicemail. He rose from his bed and started to walk out of his room. It wasn’t surprising that his mother was fast asleep, but Akiteru was up and watching TV as he headed towards the front door.  
  
“Kei?” He heard his brother call out. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of his older brother climbing to his feet. Akiteru headed to the front door to follow his little brother. A look of confusion on his face as he saw his Kei putting on his shoes, “Where are you going?” It was obviously late, and he was concerned about where his brother was trying to sneak off too. Kei didn’t stop putting on his shoes even as his brother asked him the question. Kei tapped his foot against the floor knocking his shoes onto his feet,  
  
“Yamagushi’s mother just called me. He hasn’t made it home yet.”  
  
Akiteru’s eyes widened slightly at that. It was pretty late to be out on a school night, and Yamaguchi wasn’t one to worry his mother. Akiteru stepped closer to his little brother as he searched for more information, “Did you walk home together?”  
  
“…” Kei froze for a moment. Then he simply shook his head no. He turned to the front door, but he felt his brother reach out and grab ahold of his arm. He turned back with a firm look in place, but Akiteru had one of his own.  
  
“I’m coming with you.”  
  
Kei didn’t bother to respond. It was obvious Akiteru was coming with him, and the two walked out into the night.


	2. Absent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei has to deal with Yamaguchi's absence.

**Ch. 2**

**Absent**

Akiteru and Kei left their home and walked the streets toward the school. Everything had quieted by this time of the night, and there weren’t many passersby as they went. Kei’s eyes searched the streets, silently looking for any sign of his wayward friend. He had expected to find Yamaguchi. It would be simple. They would turn a corner, and Yamaguchi would be standing there reading the back cover of whatever game he’d bought.

Kei had already come up with the lecture he was going to give Yamaguchi about being an idiot, making him come out so late, and worrying his mother; then he would send him on his way home.

That moment never came.

The minutes ticked by. Kei’s steps became a little quicker then finally he stopped walking. The pair stood in front of the gates at the school, and they’d seen no sign of Yamaguchi on the walk there.

“Where the hell is he?”, Kei scoffed at the absence of his friend.

“You said he went to buy something, right? We can keep looking.” Akiteru suggested. Kei didn’t need any convincing. He turned with his brother, and they continued walking. The sound of their feet on the pavement seemed especially loud as they walked in silence. Akiteru shot a sideways glance at his brother trying to judge his level of worry, and he could see Kei was getting more concerned the longer they went without an answer. Akiteru cleared his throat and decided to break the awkward silence,

“You’re sure he didn’t mention anything to you?”

“No.” Kei responded curtly, “We planned on walking home together. He didn’t say anything about being out late before we split off. We were probably going to come back and play that video game.”

Agitated, Kei reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. The screen was still devoid of any missed calls or new messages, but Kei knew it would be. He hadn’t heard it ring, but he’d been hoping he’d missed some magical message from Yamaguchi. He rolled his eyes and roughly shoved the phone back in his pocket.

“He’s an idiot. He probably got distracted by something.”

Akiteru continued to glance at his brother, and he could see the distinctive look of anger on his face. He knew it was masking Kei’s worry. It wasn’t like Yamaguchi to up and disappear. It was odd. Yamaguchi would have told Kei in advance of any plan to stay out this late, but Akiteru had to wonder if this was some sort of teenage rebellion or teenage crisis. Yamaguchi’s parents had just split up. It wasn’t so farfetched to think Yamaguchi may have just gone and spent the night at someone’s house. He cleared his throat again getting his little brother’s attention then tried to reassure him,

“I’m sure Yamaguchi’s fine. It’s probably a misunderstanding.”

Kei’s eyebrow shot up at his brother’s comment, “He misunderstood going home at night?” The words came out with a sharp edge.

Akiteru shook his head, “I mean, maybe, he went to someone’s house and just forgot to call his mom and let her know. His phone would be dead by now if that happened.”

Kei supposed the theory could be true, but there was one flaw, “He hardly knows anyone else.”

Akiteru glanced questioningly at his little brother, “You’re saying you’re his only friend?”

Kei was silent as he thought. No. He wasn’t Yamaguchi’s only friend. His best friend, but not only. Kei reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone once more. He started to text as he walked.

“What are you doing?” Aketiru leaned in to investigate as Kei typed.

Kei continued to write his message walking and talking in unison, “If he stayed with someone it had to be someone on the team. I’ll text them all and see if anyone has seen him. It would be quicker than this.”

“You didn’t do that first?” Aketiru questioned.

“I only talked to the last two idiots who’d seen him. I didn’t think about the others, but he may have run into them on the way home. It’s worth a shot.”

It didn’t take long for Kei to type and send the message. Once it was done he continued observing his surroundings as he walked in silence. The store Yamaguchi had gone too was closed by the time they arrived, and no one was around. They walked around for about thirty more minutes before heading home.

Kei’s phone would chime every now and then with a new text message from different team members, but most never responded due to the late hour. The messages that came in were all the same. No one had seen Yamaguchi after practice had wrapped up. There was nothing to do but go home and wait. The walk home had been a silent one. Kei was wrapped up in his thoughts, and Akiteru couldn’t think of anything reassuring to say to his little brother. Akiteru watched Kei take his shoes off and retreat upstairs to his room. Kei walked into his room and lay on his bed glaring at the ceiling. He tried to reassure himself that it was all a misunderstanding, and Yamaguchi would meet up with him in the morning. He started to count the shadows on his ceiling as he waited for someone to call and let him know Yamaguchi was somewhere. Safe. It wasn’t like Yamaguchi to up and vanish, and he found it hard to relax without knowing where he was at. Eventually, the late hour got the better of him, and his eyes drifted shut in sleep.

The insistent beeping of his alarm woke him up in the morning. His head was pounding again. He didn’t bother to roll over as he fished around on his bed and found his cell phone. Next, he was searching for his glasses. Once he had them on he started looking at his messages. He had a few more from team members, but he didn’t see any knew messages from his AWOL friend. He tried texting Yamaguchi again, but the response was the same. Nothing.

Kei rolled to the edge of the bed, pulled the covers off, and lowered his feet to the floor. The glow from his phone illuminated the room, and Kei knew that Yamaguchi hadn’t replied in the seconds it had taken him to sit up, but he was hoping. He couldn’t help that his eyes went back to his phone again. Still nothing. There was nothing left that he could do for Yamaguchi, so he started getting ready for school. It didn’t take long to get ready, and Kei left his home. He followed his usual routine as he started his walk to school. It was only natural to wait for Yamaguchi at the usual spot. He couldn’t help but stand and tap his foot impatiently, like repeating his morning ritual would change anything from the previous day. Yamaguchi never made it home last night. What made him think he’d show up for school? Kei tsked as time continued to tick away, and he eventually made the choice to continue towards school. Alone. He felt like an idiot for waiting in the first place. He lifted his headphones over his ears, and he was surprised how quiet his walk was without Yamaguchi talking in the background. While he usually listened to music while walking it didn’t block out Yamaguchi’s words. Without his friend, it was really an uneventful, boring morning.

Damnit. Kei thought to himself. Yamaguchi had been missing for less than twelve hours, and he was already missing him. When had he become such a pathetic creature? He couldn’t go a morning without the freckled brunette? No. It had to be the situation. He was just feeling this way because the way Yamaguchi was missing. It was the gone without a trace that was the problem. That’s what making me so agitated he convinced himself. If he knew where Yamaguchi was then he wouldn’t have cared. It was the not knowing that was the problem. He wrestled with his thoughts, and it made the time pass by quickly. He arrived at the gym for morning practice in what felt like the blink of an eye. When he stepped into the gym Shoyo was the first to run up to him. He couldn’t help but look around and see Yamaguchi was nowhere to be found.

“Hey! Tsukishima, what happened last night? Where is Yamaguchi?” Shoyo asked as he looked around Tsukishima, but he didn’t see Yamaguchi anywhere. Usually Yamaguchi was right there, and it was odd not seeing them together.

Kei scoffed as he glared at the shorter boy, but his retort died in his throat. He wasn’t in the mood to think up a sarcastic retort. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his team members, but Shoyo wasn’t going anywhere. Shoyo knew Yamaguchi hadn’t made it home last night, and that was the next question out of his mouth, “Yamaguchi came home last night. Right?” Shoyo asked with concern in his voice. He was afraid he already knew the answer since the two hadn’t walked in together. Maybe Yamaguchi was grounded for worrying his mother. The others were starting to gather around with questions of their own. Most of them had gotten Tsukishima’s text and responded. Like Shoyo they all saw that Yamaguchi wasn’t with Tsukishima, and they were curious about what had taken place.

“Yeah. You sent me that message late last night. What happened?” Nishinoya questioned.

“Where is he?” Tanaka looked left and right for their missing team member.

“Is he skipping?” Another question.

Kei felt his eye twitch. Someone barely finished speaking when someone else was interrupting to ask the same thing. The redundancy was maddening. Tsukishima thought it should have been obvious that he had no idea where Yamaguchi was. The bombardment quickly became too much.

“Does it look like I know!?” Tsukishima growled. The gym fell silent, and everyone stared. No one knew what to say. Tsukishima pushed his way through his teammates and walked onto the volleyball court as the whispers started up.

Everyone treaded lightly around him for the rest of practice. No one knew what to say, and it was obvious Tsukishima’s focus was elsewhere. Morning practice ended soon enough, and it was time for school to start. Tsukishima walked into the classroom, and Yamaguchi’s absence was felt all over again.

Yamaguchi’s desk was empty. The reminder of his absence hit Tsukishima harder than he thought it would. The tall, blonde shot a glare at the empty desk as he walked past it to sit in his own desk. A few students came over and asked if Kei had seen their absent classmates, and Kei shot a scathing look in their direction. They quickly turned and walked away without him having to speak. As the day passed on Tsukishima took the time to reflect. People didn’t go missing. Imaginations were running wild, and he’d heard some of his teammate’s theories first hand. Alien abduction. Kidnapping. Then there was the more common theory which was just as disturbing. Yamaguchi had left on his own accord. They all knew that Yamaguchi’s parents had recently gotten divorced. Maybe he’d chosen to leave?

Tsukishima particularly hated that theory. He’d overheard his teammate’s talking about it, and he’d found himself glaring in their direction. If Yamaguchi was going to run away he wouldn’t have gone further than running to his house for the night. Which he did often. Kei had let Yamaguchi crash at his house time and time again. It had become more common as his parent divorce heated up. Yamaguchi stayed over when he hadn’t wanted to be at home with his parents or alone in an empty house. He was sure Yamaguchi would have stayed last night too. Kei’s glare intensified, and he cocked his head toward the side looking out of the window angrily. Yamaguchi probably would have stayed at his house, if he hadn’t left early.

That thought made Tsukishima think back to the previous day. He tried to recall if Yamaguchi had looked depressed. He wasn’t the best with always noticing, but he’d been trying to get better at taking note of Yamaguchi’s moods. Nothing odd came to mind, and Tsukishima was left with nothing. All he could do was wait.

 

 

Author’s Note: I have decided on a biweekly posting schedule for Saturday. Check back then for updates. The next chapter will have Yamaguchi's whereabouts in it.

Bonus: If I can get an extra chapter out before then it will be posted on the in-between Saturday, but that will not always happen. I plan to stick to the biweekly schedule.


End file.
